Sudanese woman who refused to recant Christian faith while facing death heads to new US home

PHILADELPHIA – A Sudanese woman who refused to recant her Christian faith in the face of a death sentence is heading to the United States.

Meriam Ibrahim, her husband and their children are due to arrive in Philadelphia on Thursday on a flight from Rome. The Rev. William Devlin, a New York City pastor who has helped the family, says they will be flying onto Manchester, New Hampshire, where the family will make their new home.

Meriam's husband, Daniel Wani, had previously lived in New Hampshire.

Sudan initially blocked her from leaving the country even after its highest court overturned her death sentence in June.

Ibrahim's father was Muslim, and her mother was an Orthodox Christian. She married Wani, a Christian from southern Sudan, in 2011. Muslim women in Sudan are prohibited from marrying non-Muslims.